2 Roman denarius

[Mat25]

Hello, I have picked up a couple of Roman coins recently, I know next to nothing about Roman coins as I usally collect British coins from anglo saxon onwards. I was hoping that someone here who knows a bit about these coins could give me an opinion on the authenticity of the coins and also possibly tell me some more about what exactly these coins are? I have tried to do some research on them but without a great deal of success.

 

 

 

 

At a guess I would think that the first one is genuine but the second one looks a bit odd to me, maybe it is just the fact that it has been cleaned. Anyway as I say I know nothing about these coins so I am probably completely wrong!

[constanius]

Julia Domna. IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / PIETAS PVBLICA, Pietas standing left, raising both hands at altar.

 

Caracalla. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG / PONTIF TRP XI COS III (I think it is Mars with shield & spear) looks suspicious to me too.

[Mat25]

Thanks Constanius, I think il return the Caracalla now that you have backed up my suspicions. Out of interest do you know any good books for identifying/pricing Roman coins?

[constanius]

I just dabble in roman coins, therefore I just use Wildwinds, ForvmAncientCoins, eBay etc. My main interest is in historical medals 1600-1900. Mind I love Roman history(social, philosophical & martial) especially the period of Marius to Augustus. Good luck with your collecting.

[mmarotta]

Out of interest do you know any good books for identifying/pricing Roman coins?

 

I am surprised that you did not get an answer on this sooner. The books by Seaby and Sear, Roman Silver Coins, (1954 and 1987 editions) are considered iconic standards. David Sear has an updated edition of Roman Coins and Their Values (2000), which includes more than just the silvers.

 

Another newer effort (1999-2000) by David Vagi offers a different presentation. Wayne Sayles's series on Ancient Coin Collecting provides an overview in Volume III (predominantly the Empire) but also in IV and V (the Provincial or "Greek" Roman coins and the Romaion or "Byzantine" Romans).

 

Others here recommended Van Meter. If you scroll down the Topics in this area, you will find one on books for Roman coins.

 

Pricing is not so important as all prices are relative. You can check with reputable sources such as the VCoins ring or Wildwinds or CoinArchives to see what recent prices were. Pricing on ancients tends to be more individualized than with modern coins, as the items themselves are less given to numerical grades for millions of identical examples.

 

Aside from CoinPeople, you might want to check out Forum. Forum or FORVM at

www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php

They are a recognized resource and their own awards to quality sites are highly prized.

[dougsmit]

While I agree with mmarotta on the books mentioned I would probably hold off buying anything for the purpose of pricing coins since that subject is just too complex for ink and paper. The online resources mentioned plus my favorite of the sort acsearch.info which turned up a similar item

http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=322462

 

Note that every die is an individual so finding an exact match is not likely. Note also that a coin with poor surfaces and cracks will sell for a fraction of the same thing in smooth and pretty condition so don't get your hopes up for riches based on these results. Your coins look like metal detector field finds and collectors prefer coins that spent 2000 years in a clay pot protected from agricultural chemicals.

 

If a coin seems fake to you, don't buy it. You may be wrong but there are plenty of other coins to buy. Of course we always recommend buying only from known and trusted sources meaning professional dealers like those on VCoins but few beginners listen and invariably get cheated a few times.

 

Have fun.